Rory McIlroy leaves U.S. Open opponents in the dust

Rory McIlroy Leads U.S. Open After Day 1

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland surged ahead of the field after the first round of the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland by carding a 6-under par 65.

The 22-year old Irishman's fine form resulted to the largest lead after 18 holes at the tournament in 35 years.

Showing that his Master's performance was not a fluke, Rory  McIlroy hit all but one green and never registered a bogey among the 156-player field. "It felt like quite a simple 65," he said. "I didn't do much wrong."

McIlroy's infamous meltdown at Augusta National is fresh in people's memories. He lost a four-shot lead at the Masters by finishing with a final round score of 80 in what could have been his first green jacket.

After another strong start at a major, Rory McIlroy insisted that he's not thinking of the Masters as he plays at the U.S. Open.

"I don't know it it says that I've got a short memory," he said. "I took the experience from Augusta, and I learned a lot from it. But yeah, I mean you're going into the U.S. Open. You can't be thinking about what happened before."

"You've got to just be thinking about this week, and how you can best prepare, and how you can get yourself around the golf course," Rory McIlroy added.

Masters champion Charl Schwartzel of South Africa and Y.E. Yang were three shots behind Rory McIlroy, who vowed to remain focused in the next rounds.

Posted by Andre Monohan on Friday June 17 2011, 6:48 AM EST. Ref: AP. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0